US production is expected to develop by 2 million barrels a day

US oil headed to the Middle East in December, an unthinkable trip just a few years ago.

The UAE bought condensate from the US in December, as per a person with direct knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named since he isn’t authorised to speak to media.

The cargo will be utilized to meet the requirements for its condensate splitters, the person mentioned, adding that it preferred to buy the oil from the US because it has superior quality to that sourced from the region.

President of Lipow Oil Associates, Andy Lipow said, “As a member of OPEC and a large crude producer, I would imagine they would be very self-sufficient in their own crude supply.” The purchases of US oil aren’t likely to continue, given the U.A.E.’s own supply, Lipow stated.

A shipment of American oil to the Middle East is the recent sign of how the shale boom and the lifting of a ban on US exports has changed the course of petroleum over the world.

US production is expected to develop by 2 million barrels a day between February 2017 and November this year, as per the Energy Information Administration. Exports have hiked from a little more than 100,000 barrels a day in 2013 to 1.53 million in November.

US Exports
The US exported about 700,000 barrels of light domestic crude in December to the UAE, the Census Bureau stated on Tuesday. It’s the fourth-biggest OPEC producer’s first cargo of US oil, according to EIA data. The Middle Eastern country typically brings in extra-light oil, known as condensate, to process in a unit known as a splitter.

The cargo was shipped from Enterprise Products Partners LP’s Houston terminal on the tanker Seoul Spirit, which arrived Jan. 31 at the Port of Ruwais in Abu Dhabi, according to ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Til last year, the UAE depended on Qatar for its condensate supply. But the two countries are embroiled in a political fight, and the UAE decided in June to ban all petroleum ships from Qatar.